Ranch Newsletter | October 2025

Originally sent to subscribers on October 31st, 2025

Farm Update

Seems like just last week I was writing the email to recap September.

The ranch is ready for winter. It feels weird to be ready for winter and it not BE winter yet.

The beginning of October was spent making soaps, lotions, and lip balms for the Millcreek Commons Holiday Shoppes Market that runs from November 1st to December 24th. This is a consignment market, so I don't have to be there in person, which is nice since it's an hour away. But I will have to drive down once a week or so to restock. Last year I ran out of several soaps completely, so this year I made several batches of the most popular ones from last year in hopes I wouldn't sell out - at least, not as quickly.

Once I felt I had a good stock on hand, my focus turned to deep cleaning and organize the house. It took me a full week to get the downstairs done. I haven't started on the upstairs because I got sidetracked with a project. Instead of moving to the upstairs, I decided to do a "quick" remodel of our downstairs bathroom. This "quick" remodel, quickly turned into a more intense remodel when Craig decided it was a good excuse to replace the toilet. This made painting MUCH easier, but also convinced me that it would be a good idea to refinish the cabinet as well. So instead of a little paint and some hardware updating, it was very nearly a full blown, top to bottom remodel, and honestly, that tracks with us. Craig is putting the bathroom back together as I write this newsletter.

This past week I updated our goats page and listed our two babies for sale. Huckleberry got his berries banded yesterday, and that concludes all the unpleasant parts of raising goat babies. Now all I have to do is cuddle them as much as possible until someone tells me they want to take them home. If you're curious, you can see all the details here: https://www.julbudranch.com/goat-purchase

Since I have more time on my hands, I've been a little more intentional about trying to befriend and train the ducks. They still refuse to go into their coop at night on their own, so we have to encourage them to in every single night. I've stopped letting them go to the pond until they figure it out, which at this point will not be before the pond freezes over. I also take them peas nearly every afternoon and sit with them in an attempt to gain their trust. They will come and eat peas out of my hand, but as soon as the peas are gone, so are the ducks. The last couple of visits out there, though, they have chosen to stay within four feet of me while giving me side eyes as they forage in the dirt. So maybe we're making progress.

We rehomed one of our three roosters a couple weeks ago. He was being rather mean to the ladies. Our main guy, Coriander, is nice to humans and hens, but he's not much of a protector. He's been found wandering out in the field by our dog Milo a few times and instead of fighting, he runs and makes a lot of noise, and generally acts like one of the hens. The other rooster has not shown any signs of being aggressive, but he's a Golden Laced Polish and I'm not certain he can actually see anything with all the poofy feathers he has on his head. He amuses me and he's gentle, so he gets to stay.

In natural skincare news: Soap prices are increasing on January 1st! Every six months I review my soap and skincare costs. Prices have been steadily rising, and while I’ve worked hard to keep costs down, I now need to raise the price of my goat milk soaps. Starting in January, Goat Milk Soaps will be $6.00/bar instead of $5.50.

My products will be available at Millcreek Commons from November 1st - December 24 as part of the Utah's Own Holiday Shoppes Market, so if you're in the Salt Lake/Sugar House/Millcreek area, stop by and check it out.

I'm currently working on a new salve. This salve will be designed for muscle and joint pain relief and will have olive oil infused comfrey and cayenne, turmeric, black pepper, and ginger essential oils. I'm hoping to release this salve at the beginning of the year, but if you'd like to test it for me, respond to this email and let me know. I'll be making my test batch soon!

My next soap making classes are:

• Saturday, December 13th, 2-4pm

• Wednesday, December 17th, 6-8pm

Learn how to create your own small batch of Bastille bar soap using entirely natural ingredients, resulting in a soap perfect for sensitive skin.

You will discover the science of soap-making, explore the ingredients suitable for homemade soap, and create a 1-pound batch of soap to take home, cut, cure, and enjoy.

Please note, you will be required to wear safety gear for this class - gloves, glasses, and an apron. We will be working with lye. Also note, the soap you take home you won't be able to use right away. I cover this in the class, but you'll need to be prepared to cut your soap the following day.

Classes are $55 each, are limited to 10 people, and have an age limit of 13 and older. If you'd like to sign up, you can do so here: https://www.julbudranch.com/events-1

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